On October 10, 2018, the U.S. Senate passed S. 3021, the
America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 ("AWIA"),
which contains several hydropower provisions that seek to amend the
Federal Power Act ("FPA") to promote hydropower
development. The Senate passed the AWIA by a 99-1 vote.
The AWIA was previously passed by the U.S. House of
Representatives on September 14, 2018 and will now go to the
President for his signature.
S. 3021 would promote hydropower development through five
hydropower provisions pertaining to: (1) preliminary permit terms
and statutory deadlines applicable to newly licensed projects, (2)
proposed projects along water supply conduits, (3) project
development at existing non-powered dams, (4) closed-loop pumped
storage, and (5) infrastructure, environmental, and recreational
investments at existing hydropower facilities.
